Thread by @AliyyaSwaby

Texas School Finance Commission chair Scott Brister as meeting starts: "We have one more month before we turn into a pumpkin."
Commission is supposed to come out with recommendations by end of Dec. #txlege #txed

Brister: No quorum for next week bc of "holiday season" absences. School finance commission will have "several meetings" in mid-Dec and report is due Dec. 31.
Proposes having a small group put reports from all three workgroups together.
#txlege #txed

Brister: "As much as possible we would like the report to be unanimous" to recommend to #txlege.
Might need to include a "menu of options," in order of priority. #txed

Tentative date of next school finance commission meeting: Dec. 11 at 10 a.m.

Following tentative date: Dec. 19 at 10 a.m.

#txlege #txed

.@TeamBettencourt is going over recommendations he laid out at revenue workgroup earlier this week (minus @TPPF plan). Find link here: tea.texas.gov/Finance_and_Gr… #txlege #txed

@TeamBettencourt @TPPF .@TeamBettencourt spending a lot of time talking through @GovAbbott plan for property tax reform. #txlege #txed texastribune.org/2018/11/01/tex…

@TeamBettencourt @TPPF @GovAbbott .@TeamBettencourt said plans (including @GovAbbott plan) will be "scored" and have dollar amounts attached to them soon. #txlege #txed

@TeamBettencourt @TPPF @GovAbbott Now @nicolekConley is laying out her recommendations:
1. increase motor fuels tax -- producing $900M/biennium.
2. Reverse tax exemptions.
3. $1B from Rainy Day Fund for one-time costs. #txlege #txed

.@nicolekConley pitching a number of ideas to raise taxes (gas, alcohol) or reverse tax exemptions for new #txed revenue. #txlege

Brister pointing out, corroborated by TEA's Leo Lopez, that @GregAbbott_TX plan would cap school property tax growth, and replace funding gap with state $. Not intended to take $ from schools. #txlege #txed

.@DanHuberty says he's comfortable with property tax relief. But workgroup needs more options for school finance reform. #txlege #Txed

@DanHuberty .@DiegoBernalTX: "All of a sudden we're doing the property relief part first and it seems to be the nonnegotiable part" and hoping $ left over for schools.
Calls it an "inverted sequence."
#txlege #txed

Scott Brister has consistently said that it would be near impossible to figure out how much it should cost to fund #txed #txlege

.@DanHuberty: We agreed schools need more money. Trying to create a new system where money tied to specific outcomes.
#txlege #txed

@DanHuberty .@DanHuberty: "For those of us who have to actually vote for" tax increases and removal of tax exemptions, "that's going to be the problem." #txlege #txed

@DanHuberty .@nicolekConley said she's happy not to insist on her recommendations as long as commission can promise to recommend more money for schools.
@SenRoyceWest: No guarantee schools will get the money. #txlege #txed

Todd Williams, appointed by @GovAbbott, says commission should have same urgency on school finance outcomes as it does on property tax reform. #txlege #Txed

.@KingForTexas says oil/gas industry has taken on a lot of the cost of education over the last years.
Commission should remember oil/gas is volatile. #txlege #txed

Doug Killian: we should include @nicolekConley recommendations in the report and let #txlege decide what to do -- even if we can't agree on them. #txed

.@DanHuberty and @DiegoBernalTX say @TXSpeakerBonnen plans to put more money into public education.

@DiegoBernalTX trying to get commission to agree to fund at least one education policy, like high quality preK. #txlege #txed

@DanHuberty @DiegoBernalTX @TXSpeakerBonnen A small group will draft commission recommendations: Todd Williams, @TeamBettencourt @DanHuberty.
Anyone else can help on ad hoc basis. #txlege #txed

@DanHuberty @DiegoBernalTX @TXSpeakerBonnen @TeamBettencourt TEA counsel points out that only up to 5 people can work on commission workgroup at a time in private. Otherwise it's a quorum and needs to be posted as an open meeting.
#txlege #txed